(The Center Square) – One of Georgia’s top law enforcement officials is calling on Georgia lawmakers to increase taxpayer-funded wages and benefits for state law enforcement officers.
Georgia Department of Public Safety chief of staff Maj. Joshua Lamb told members of the Senate Pension Benefits Committee for Georgians on Thursday that increasing salaries to hire and retain current law enforcement employees is “mandatory”.
According to Lamb, the department has a 22% turnover rate and annual applications have declined 60% over the past three years.
“The traditional salaries associated with law enforcement are no longer effective as rhetoric and hostility towards the police increases, as do the salaries that must be paid to someone to get into and stay in that profession,” said Lamb.
The state set up the Study Committee to evaluate workers’ compensation and pensions. Legislators plan to present their findings to the full General Assembly when it meets in January.
Lamb said the DPS has the lowest number of soldiers it has had in 24 years. He said the new wave of anti-police sentiment across the country has exacerbated hiring and retention problems for the DPS.
In the summer of 2020, nationwide protests erupted over the killing of black Americans, prompting calls to cut law enforcement funding. As a result, the DPS lost 87 soldiers in 2020. It cost the state $7.8 million.
The agency has to pay for recruits to be trained, screened and onboarded, though the majority of them don’t make it through the entire hiring process, Lamb said. The state also has to pay hefty pension packages to long-serving employees who leave the company.
“Now not only are we having a hard time getting them in through the front door, we’re also having a hard time stopping them from exiting the back door,” Lamb said.
According to Lamb, the agency has accelerated soldiers’ training, relaxed uniform and appearance requirements, and increased starting salaries by more than $10,000, but it hasn’t been enough to attract enough recruits.
“If we expect someone to come into this job and face the fear of having their life destroyed or killed in the line of duty, they must be paid a sum that justifies that risk,” Lamb said.
Heads of other agencies also voiced their retention issues on Thursday. Tyrone Oliver, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice, said about 70% of staff leave the DJJ within six months.
Gov. Brian Kemp and other state officials on Monday announced a plan to provide one-time awards of $1,000 to law enforcement officers and other first responders from federal assistance. Georgia also gave one-time bonuses of $1,000 to full-time government employees who make less than $80,000 per year in fiscal 2021. Officials said Thursday there is an alarming number of state employees receiving public support in Georgia.